“I didn’t realize you were my manager.” I hid my head in my hands with another sigh. How had I not noticed he was looking over my shoulder?
“You’re lucky I’m not, because Arya will be a lot less amused than I am.” He lowered his voice so that our conversation couldn’t reach Chanel and Elyssa’s ears. “Seriously. Are you okay?”
I kept my eyes fixed on the screen, afraid I’d burst out in tears the moment our eyes met. How was I even supposed to answer this question?Well, I took your advice and finally got laid again – with a dominant goddess of a woman who rearranged my insides in the best way. Only problem is that she’s not real, and neither was the experience. Oh, and the tech we used for it is dangerous, and highly addictive – so now I have to resume my life knowing the best sex I ever had was not only an illusion, but also one that can never happen again. How sad is that?
“I’m fine,” I muttered.
Joey groaned. Unfortunately, he was the only person I knew who didn’t expect ‘I’m fine’ to the world’s most dead-end question.
“How about we go do something fun?” he said then, to my surprise.
I glanced up despite myself. “Fun?”
He laughed at my dumbfounded expression. “Yeah, Morgana – fun, the thing people do to make this dull life bearable. Don’t worry, I won’t drag you to the bar again. Maybe we can get out of the city this weekend? Take a long walk in nature or some shit.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his grimace. Joey was not a nature person, but he knew I was. And he was right – it’d been months since we had been out of the city.
“Nature sounds good,” I heard myself say. Tears welled up behind my eyelids again. I blinked violently trying to keep them at bay. “Thank you,” I whispered – barely trusting myself to speak.
Sometimes, Joey knew me better than I knew myself. He knew I was far from fine – but he also knew I wouldn’t spill here.
He lightly squeezed my shoulder, flashing me a genuine smile that made his whole face light up. “Hang in there. Just fifteen more minutes and we’re done for the day.” He rolled his eyes at Arya’s closed office door.
“He’s been in there for an awfully long time,” Chanel commented.
I looked from one to the other. I probably would’ve known what they were talking about if I’d been paying attention to their conversation for the past few hours, but my attention had been entirely caught by flashbacks of last night and Zafyra’s parting words.
“Who?” I asked reluctantly when no one enlightened me.
“John.” Chanel clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with undisguised malicious pleasure at the idea of her co-worker being in trouble. “I hope he’s going to get fired for harassing Nadia in the bathroom last week.”
“He won’t get fired for that.” Elyssa rolled her eyes. “Not as long as he’s one of our ‘top performers’,” she muttered, her hands making air quotes to illustrate her words.
I nodded, hoping it looked like I cared about John’s fate. John bothering his female co-workers was nothing new, nor was management’s lack of action toward him. Just another reason to leave this company as quickly as I could.
But was the alternative better? Selling my soul to a sketchy chatbot producer on the dark web, handing my heart to one of their bots, and slowly bleeding what was left of my sanity into her virtual claws?
At that moment, the door flew open. We all quickly turned back to our screens.
“Speak of the devil,” Joey mumbled, loud enough for all of us to hear. Chanel burst out into muffled giggling, which earned her a firm elbow nudge from Elyssa.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed John walking over to me. I kept my eyes on the screen, mentally praying he wouldn’t start talking to me.
“Morgan?” I looked up with the fakest smile I could muster when he said my name. “Arya wants to speak to you.”
My eyebrows shot up. I deliberately ignored the three pairs of eyes that turned toward me. “Me? Why?”
“She’ll tell you.” John crossed his arms – was I mistaken, or did I catch a hint of smugness under his stiff expression?
Mumbling a string of curses under my breath, I shoved my chair back with a firmness that startled Chanel.
Right. Act normal. Don’t let them think you’re weird.
I refused to meet the prying eyes – imagined or not? – as I walked toward the most dreaded place for all employees. Thoughts raced through my head, making my stomach turn with anxiety.
I hated not knowing what I was in for. Did this have something to do with breaking Gavin’s nose? I wouldn’t put it past Gavin to file a formal complaint, even thoughhestarted it – and John would no doubt back it up. My job used to be fairly secure since I was also one of the top performers, but lately, my results had been slacking.
“Close the door behind you,” Arya said by way of a greeting. She leaned back in her chair, her expression unreadable.
